Process of producing castings



June 6, 1944. J, E. JOHNSON I 2,350,899

PROCESS OF PRODUCING CA STINC'S Original i iled April 18, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet 1 lllilllll Jo/m/ xi/M271. w qy- #05699 by WWW June 6,1944. J, E. JOHNSON v PROCESS OF PRODUCING CASTINGS I Original FiledApril 18, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W s y m. E. H w. w J

Patented, June 6, 1944 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE Divided and thisapplication December 28, 1942, Serial No. 470,354

Claims.

This invention has for its principal object the production, by anexpeditious, facile and novel method or process, of an exact andfaithful reproduction or facsimile of an object, such as an insignia,inscription, cameo, intaglio etc. which has been placed in a die orwhich forms a part thereof. The invention is peculiarly adapted in itsapplication to metals having a high melting point, such as tool steel,because of the results achieved to be referred to in detail hereinafterand for the reason that the work from which the casting is formed isitself directly subjected to intense heat instead of heating the metalin a crucible or other apparatus for bringing it to molten condition. I

Further and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent as the description thereof proceeds.

According to the preferred form of the invention, the metal as, forinstance, steel or other material from which the casting is to beformed, is employed in the process in shaped or block form, as a rod orbar or a disc or roller and a portion thereof, such as an end or edge,is fused or brought to molten or liquid condition by the directapplication of heat, such as for instance, by means of the well-knownelectric arc method and in which the metal material itself may form oneof the electrodes. The end of the rod or bar, or if a disc or roller isemployed, its periphery is then fused and forced quickly in moltencondition, and while it remains an integral part of the rod or disc,into the die and pressure is then applied to the molten metal within thedie, the pressure-applying means preferably being the un-molten orrelatively cool portion of the metal work or material itself.

The several figures of the accompanying-drawings show a practicalembodiment of an apparatus by means of which the process of theinvention may be practiced. In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan View of one form of such apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-section on the line 4'4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a modified form of apparatus taken on theline 5 -5 of Fig. 6, .and

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section of the modification taken on the lineGB of Fig. 5.

Referring indetail to the drawings and, for the present, moreparticularly to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive:

A walled chamberwithin which the process of the invention may bepracticed is indicated at I0. Said chamber is provided with a base II, afront wall I2 detachably secured to the chamber, as by screws I3,whereby access to the interior of the chamber may readily be had, and aninwardly extending annular flange, as shown, forming a bearing memberfor'a work-holder as will be herein described. A rotatable work-holderis indicated at I5 and carries the work I6 from the lower end of whichthe casting is to be formed. In the preferred form of the invention thework comprises a rod or suitable fusible and preferably metallicmaterial, such as steel. This steel rod extends downwardly through thework-holder and into the chamber and it is slidably and adjustably heldin said work-holder in any desirable manner, as by set-screw l1 passingthrough the work-holder and into clamping engagement with the rod I6.

The upper end of the work-holder I5 is reduced in character as at I8 andextends through and is journalled within a cross-bar l9. The ends ofsaid cross-bar are provided with guiding pins 20 slidably receivedwithin slots 2| of angled vertical supporting arms 22, the angles ofwhich are detachably secured to the upper portion or wall of the chamberby means of adjustable screws 23. Tension springs 24 are connected tosaid screws and to the cross-bar I9 and constantly urge movement of thecross-bar I 9 downwardly and accordingly movement of the workholder I5in the same direction with the guiding pins 20 engaging with the slots2|. A ball-race 25 may be provided and is interposed between thecross-bar I9 and work-holder I5 to decrease the effect offrictionbetween the cross-bar I9 and work-holder I5 when the latterelement is rotated. To permit connection between the cross-bar I9 andwork-holder I5 while permitting rotation of the latter, ,I have provideda strap 25' fastened to the cross-bar and slidably engaging beneathanannular flange 25" with which the workholder is provided.

A rotatable sleeve is indicated at 26. Said sleeve is rotatablyjournalled within an inwardly extending flange or wall 21 which ispreferably integral with the side walls of the chamber I0 and the sleeveis provided with an annular flange 28 acting as a stop to limit itsupward vertical movement within said .fiange or Wall 21. The sleeve 26and work-holder I5 are splined together by means of a key 29 on thesleeve which enters a slot 30 in the work-holder. This connectionpermits vertical movement downwardly .of the end of the rack is adaptedto enter a suitable slot 34 in a wall of the chamber and the other nal69 also mounted in the bore and having wiping electrical contact withthe sleeve 26. A conductor 6| is fastened to the binding post 51 and isconnected to a source of current supply (not shown) while anotherconductor 62 is also connected to said source of current supply and tothe electrode 45.

The apparatus is shown in inoperative position with the metal die 38shielded by a baflle plate 63 to prevent the introduction of dirt orother foreign matter into the die and which may be formed as an integralpart of a wall of end is provided with a shank 35 journalled in and vextending through an opposite wall and termi-' rotate the sleeve 26 andconsequently the workholder |5 which carries the rod f 6 with it.

A slidable die-support comprising a plate, Slide able on the base I, isindicated at 31. Said support detachably carries a metallic die 38thereon which contains the impression from which the casting is to bemade. In its base the die is provided with suitable openings forfrictionally receiving pins 39 whereby removal and substitutions ofdifferent dies may readily be made with facility after the detachablefront wall l2 has first been removed. The die-support extends through anopening in a wall of the chamber with which it slidably interfits andthe opposite wall is provided with a screw-threaded opening receiving anadjustable screw 40. Said screw acts as a stop to limit the movement tothe left (Fig.3) of the support 31 on the base andby adjusting. saidscrew, the die may be brought into exact vertical alignment with thework comprising the rod l6.

An actuating rod or bar is indicated at 4| and terminates in a handle"42. Said rod is pivoted at 42', as shown, to a bracket 43 fastened to awall of the chamber and it is also connected by a pin and slotconnection 44 to the die-support 31. A horizontally slidable rodcomprising an electrode is indicated at 45. Said rod is slidablyreceived by an insulating bushing 46 munt ed in a wall of the chamberand it is pivotally connected to an end of actuating rod 4| by a pin andslot connection 41. Insulating material surrounds this last-namedconnection, as illustrated, to prevent short circuiting.

A bracket 46 is mounted on a wall of the housing and has .an arm 49pivoted thereto as at 49". The lower end of said. arm 49 engages a lugor projection 56 made of an insulating material and carried by the rod45. The upper end of said arm 49 is connected by a pin and slotconnection to a locking arm 52 journalled in a wall of the housing andterminating at its inner end in a lockin member 53 having an opening 54of a size permitting it to normally loosely receive the work-holdingmember l5. One side of the opening 54 is bevelled as at 55 and isadapted to be received by an annular notch 56 in' the the chamber. Ihave also provided means for visual inspection of the end of the rod l6in a order to inspect its physical condition while being subjected toheat to bring it to molten condition. Said means comprises a tube 64extending through the wall I2 and in horizontal alignment with the endof the rod l6. Mounted on the outer end of said tube exteriorly of thechamber is a head 65 carrying a transparent plate 66, preferably ofglass. This arrangement prevents the entrance of air into the chamberwhich is desirable in some cases as I have often found it expedient tocarry on operations within the chamber in a vacuum or partial vacuum toprevent scaling of the rod H5 or the casting to be formed therefrom andwhich also enhances the fusing operation by the electric arc method.

Assuming the parts are in the positions shown, the operation of theapparatus is as follows:

The rod 4| is thrown to the right on its pivot 42 (Fig. 3) in order tobring the inner end of the electrode into contact with the lower end ofthe rod Hi to establish the completion of the electrical circuit throughthe end of the rod and the electrode. The rod 4| is then moved slightlyto the left or in a clockwise direction to space the end of the rod I6and the end of the electrode member 5 to hold and detachably lock 'it inn elevated position against the action of the springs 24. A compressionspring 56' is interposed intermediate the arm 49 adjacent its upper endand a wall of the chamber'and urges said arm to swing in a clockwisedirection to retain the member l5 in raised and locked position.

A binding post is indicated at 51 and is provided with a shank enteringa bore 58 extending through a wallet the chamber. A compres sion spring59 is mounted in said bore intermediate' the shank of the binding postand a termi- 45 whereby an electric heating are between the members isestablished. Meanwhile fusing of the end of the rod |6 proceeds andwhile so proceeding the rack 33 is reciprocated backwardly and forwardlyto thereby rotate the rod in an obvious manner and thereby secure auniform fusion thereof at all places adjacent its lower end. When saidend has reached the necessary molten state and before it has had anopportunity to solidify and just before it has fallen by gravity fromthe unmolten portion of the rod, as determined by visual inspectionthereof in the manner previously described, the bar 4| is throwncompletely to the left on its pivot in a clockwise direction and asindicated at the left in dotted lines in Fig. 3. ,This movement,obviously, carriesthe die 38 on its support 31 into vertical alignmentwith the end of the rod I6, retracts the electrode 45 and releases thelocking edge 55 from its engagement with the notch 56 whereby thework-holder I5 is moved downwardly instantly within the, sleeve 26 withgreat speed due to the action of the springs 24, and the molten metal onthe end of the rod I6 is brought Within the die 38 and is firmlycompressed therein by the unfused or unmolten part of said rod IE toform a splas casting which conforms inconfiguration to the innerconfiguration of the die 38.

Adhesion or sticking of the molten metal to the die is obviated becauseof-the relatively large difference in temperature therebetween whereby avery sudden chilling and consequent contraction of the metal iseffectively brought about immediately upon its contact with the die.After the casting is so formed, the work-holder l5 car rying the rod ISwith the formed casting on the end thereof is manually raised by meansof the cross-bar IE to its initial position and locked in that positionby swinging the rod or bar to inoperative or vertical position shown infull lines in Fig. 3 to permit the action of the spring 56' to bring theholder l5 and locking member 53 into interlocked engagement. The formedcasting may then be cut off from the end of rod 16 at any desiredlength. As the operating length of the rod l6 becomes shortened becauseof the successive fusings of its end and the formation of successivecastings, its operating length may be lengthened wheneverdesired byloosening the set-screw I! and forcing the rod downwardly within itsholder. It will be found that castings produced by the process describedherein do not require tempering as by re-heating and plunging in a coldliquid as they are sufiiciently hardened or tempered by the quickcooling effect of the metallic die 38. This sudden chilling of themolten metal on the end of the rod l6, furthermore, prevents it fromsticking to the die, as is obvious, and as has previously beenexplained.

In the modification illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, the metal or othermaterial from which the casting is formed is preferably in the form of adisc or roller indicated at 6'1 and is detachably mounted in any manneron a separable or two-part shaft 68 the ends of which are journalled inopposite walls of the chamber. The casting in this case becomes a partof the peripheral edge of said disc or'roller. The shaft 68 is preventedfrom horizontal movement in one direction by a washer and set-screwindicated generally at 69 and the other end of the shaft is providedwith a crank 10 for the purpose of rotating it.

An elongateddie is indicated at II and is slidable or movable of itslongitudinal axis. It extends within suitable slots '12 formed in thebody of the chamber which guide the die in its movement. Said die isgrooved as at 13 in its face or side adjacent the disc or roller 81,said groove being formed with or containing the object or inscriptionetc. which it is desired to reproduce by a casting. A bracket 14 isfastened to a wall of the chamber and a bar or rod 15 is pivotedthereto, as by pivot 16. The upper end of said bar is connected by a pinand slot connection 11 to a detent slide or rod 18 extending through anopening in a wall of the housing which slidably supports it. The innerend of said detent slide normally engages beneath the end of the die Hto hold it in the inoperative or retracted position shown in thedrawings.

A rod 19 is secured to the upper end of the die H or it may be integraltherewith. Secured to the said rod 19 is a cross-arm 80 and tensionsprings 8| are fastened to said cross-arm adjacent its ends and to anupper wall of the cham her. The action of said springs Bl tend by theiraction to forcibly and expeditiously move the die ll downwardly withinthe slots 12 as is obvious.

The bar or rod 15 terminates at its lower end in a handle 82 and saidbar or rod is connected by a pin and slot connection 83 to an angle bar,the horizontal leg of which is indicated at 84 while its vertical leg isindicated at 85. The vertical leg 85 may be supported by a pin or bolt86 extending loosely therethrough and into the body of the housing and acompression spring 81 encircles said pin or bolt and bears against saidleg and housing and tends by its action to retain said leg a spaceddistance from said housing.

A pin and slot connection 88 connects the upper end of the leg to anelectrode 89 slidably mounted in anzinsulated bushing 90 in a wall ofthechamber, said pin and slot connection being surrounded by insulatingmaterial as in the previousrcase. A conductor 9| is connected to asource of. current supply (not shown) and to the outer. end of.electrode 89 while conductor 92 is connected to the same source ofcurrent supply and to a wall of the chamber.

. As in the previous case, the handle 82 is manipulated in the properdirection to bring the inner end of the electrode 89 into contact. withthe periphery of the disc or roller 61 to establish an electricalcircuit. It is then again manipulated slightly to space the roller fromthe end of the electrode whereby a heating electric arc is establishedto fuse the peripheral edge of the disc or roller. When the fusing ofsuch edge has been completed and just before the fused metal falls ofits own weight by gravity, the handle is swung in such manner as torelease the detent 18 from engagement with the die or mold H whichtravels downwardly under the influence of springs 8| and the fused metalon the peripheral edges of the disc or roller 61 enters the groove (3 inthe die to form the desired casting. The unfused and comparativelycoolportion of the disc provides sufiicient pressure and resistance forthe formation of the casting on the edge of the disc. Said disc, withthe finished casting thereon, is then removed and a new one substitutedfor repetition of. the same operation. As in the previous case, the cooldie prevents the fused metal on the edge of the disc from stickingthereto.

I have shown in this modification a device for feeding a powderedcarbonized material to the fusing metal for hardening the metal andcasting which obviously could be employed in the preferred form ofapparatus, if so desired, and in fact it is preferred to so employ it. Ahopper 93 for holding the powdered carbonized material 94 is fastened toa wall of the chamber by brackets 9'5. Thishopper interconnects with afeed tube 96 directed toward the peripheral edge of the disc or roller61. The passageway between the hopper and tube may be open or closed bya handled spindle or plunger 97. Just as about the edge of the disc orroller 61 has reached fused. condition the carbonized material ispermitted to fall thereon by opening the connection between the hopperand feed tube 96, while the disc or roller 61 is continuously rotated bythe crank Ill.

This application is a division of my prior application for patent forApparatus for producing castings, filed April 18, 1940, ser. 'No.330,237, allowed June 3, 1942.

The invention claimed is:

1. The process 'of producing a metallic casting consisting in providinga solid mass of metal having substantially the same physical propertiestherethroughout and provided with a free and unsupported portion fromwhich the casting is to be made, heating said unsupported portion ofsaid metal to reduce the same to a molten state, bringing such moltenportion of the metal into contact with a cooling die while it remainsintegral with the unmolten portion of the metal to suddenly chill it andsimultaneously compressing the molten portion of the metal against thedie by pressure applied by the unmolten portion of the metal to form asplash" casting integral with said unmolten portion conforming inconfiguration with the inner configuration of said cooling die.. V

-2. The process of producing a metallic casting consisting in providinga mass of. metal from which the casting is to be made and havingsubstantially the same physical properties therethroughout, rotatingsaid mass of metal, subjecting an edge portion of said metal to heat toreduce the same 'to a molten state, bringing the molten portion of themetal while integral with the unmolten portion thereof into contact witha cooling die to'suddenly chill it and simultaneously compressing themolten portion of the.

metal against the die by pressure applied by the unmolten portion of themetal to form a splas casting integral with said unmolten portionconforming in configuration with the inner confi uration of said coolingdie.

3. The process of producing a casting consisting in providing a rod ofmetal from which the casting is to be made and having substantially thesame physical properties therethroughout, subjecting an end of saidmetal rod to heat and reducing the same to molten condition, bringingthe molten end of the rod downwardly into contact with a cooling die bymechanical means assisted by gravity while said molten end is integralwith said rod simultaneously applying pressure to the unmolten body ofthe rod to compress the molten end against the die to form a splashcasting conforming in configuration to the configuration of said coolingdie and removing the casting so formed to retain the untreated portionof said rod for the production of successive castings by a like process.

1 4. The process of producing a casting consisting in providing ametallic rod having substantially the same physical propertiestherethroughout, subjecting an end of said rod to heat to fuse the same,forcing the fused end of said rod down wardly into contact with acooling die while it remains integral with said rod, applying pressuretothe unfused body of the rod to force the fused end against said die toeffect a sudden chillingof said iused end and form a splash casting onthe end of the rod and-then removing the casting so formed from therhodyof the rod to retain the untreated portion of said rod ,for theproduction of successive castings by a like process.

5. The process of producing a casting consisting in providing a metallicrod having substantially the same physical properties therethroughout,subjecting an end of said rod to fusing tem perature by the electric arcprocess while rotating said rod, discontinuing the heating and rotationof the rod when the end of the rod is reduced to a molten state and thensubjecting the molten portion of the rod to the action of a forming andcooling die for suddenly-chilling it and shaping it into the desiredform by pressure applied by the unfused portion of said rod while itremains integral with the body of the rod.

6. The process of producing a. casting consisting in providing a mass ofmetal having substantially the same physical properties therethroughout,subjecting an edge of said mass to fusing temperature whilesimultaneously applying powdered carbonized material to said fusingedge, forcing the fused metal so treated to enter a. cooling die andsubjecting the fused metal within the die to pressure applied by theunfused portion of said mass.

7. The process of producing a casting consisting in providing a solidmass of metal having substantially the same physical propertiestherethroughout, subjecting a portion of said mass to fusing temperaturewithin a partial vacuum and reducing such portion of the mass to amolten state, disposing the molten portion of the mass in a cooling dieand simultaneously applying pressure to the unmolten portion of saidmass to compress the molten portion within the die to form a splashcasting integral with said unmolten portion.

8. The process of producing a casting consisting in providing a disc ofmetal, subjecting the periphery of said disc to fusing temperature whilerotating said disc and moving a die into contact with the fusedperipheral edge of said disc.

9. The process of producing a casting consisting in providing a mass ofmetal having substantially the same physical properties therethroughoutand from a portion of which the casting is to be produced, rotating saidmass, subjecting an edge portion thereof to heat, discontinuing saidrotation and heating when said edge portion has been reduced to a moltencondition, forcing said molten portion while it remains integral withthe unmolten portion into contact with a cooling die and compressingsaid molten portion within the die by pressure applied thereagainst bysaid unmolten portion to suddenly chill said molten portion and to forma splash casting integral with said unmolten portion.

10. The process of producing a casting consist! ing in providing ametallic rod having substantially the same physical characteristicstherethroughout and from an end of which the casting is to be produced,rotating said rod, subjecting an end of said rod to heat within apartial vacuum to reduce said end to molten condition while retainingthe body of the rod in unmolten condition, discontinuing said rotationand heating and moving the rod to force the molten end thereof intocontact with a cooling die to compress said molten end within said dieby pres- 7 sure applied vthereagainst by said unmolten body to suddenlychill said unmolten portion and thereby form a splash casting on the endof said rod.

I JOSEPH E. JOHNSON.

